489 Squadron's Bristol Beaufighter TFX (#NE779) aircraft, with an aircrew of two-both from New Zealand, took off from RAF North Coates for an anti-shipping air operation. NE779 crashed on Norway's Færøyo Island, taking the lives of the crew.
The airmen who perished in this crash were-
RNZAF Flying Officer Neville Alexander HEFFERNAN and
RNZAF Warrant Officer Raymond William Gibson LESLIE.
Military Service-
Service Number: 423669
Rank: Flying Officer
Trade: Navigator
Age: 23
Service: Royal New Zealand Air Force
Division: 489 RNZAF Squadron [anti-shipping unit]; RAF North Coates, Lincolnshire
(Motto: Māori: Whakatanagata kia kaha ['Acquit yourselves like men, be strong'])
Son of Martin Bernard and May Matilda Heffernan (née McLeod) of Auckland City, New Zealand.
He is commemorated in perpetuity by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
489 Squadron's Bristol Beaufighter TFX (#NE779) aircraft, with an aircrew of two-both from New Zealand, took off from RAF North Coates for an anti-shipping air operation. NE779 crashed on Norway's Færøyo Island, taking the lives of the crew.
The airmen who perished in this crash were-
RNZAF Flying Officer Neville Alexander HEFFERNAN and
RNZAF Warrant Officer Raymond William Gibson LESLIE.
Military Service-
Service Number: 423669
Rank: Flying Officer
Trade: Navigator
Age: 23
Service: Royal New Zealand Air Force
Division: 489 RNZAF Squadron [anti-shipping unit]; RAF North Coates, Lincolnshire
(Motto: Māori: Whakatanagata kia kaha ['Acquit yourselves like men, be strong'])
Son of Martin Bernard and May Matilda Heffernan (née McLeod) of Auckland City, New Zealand.
He is commemorated in perpetuity by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
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